TRANSITIONS I N SOCI ETY

T H E C H A L L E N G E O F C H A N G E

Colin Bain • Jill Colyer • Dennis DesRivieres • Sean Dolan

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National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Bain, Colin M.
Transitions in society: the challenge of change
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-541768-2
1. Sociology. I. Title.
HM586.B36 2002 301 C2002-900647-3
Printed and bound in Canada
This book is printed on permanent (acid-free) paper å
4—05 04
Acquisitions editor: Patti Henderson
Text design: Brett Miller
Formatting: VISUTronX
Developmental editors: Tracey MacDonald, Margaret Hoogeveen
Copy editor: Susan McNish
Photo researcher: Maria DeCambra
Cover design: Joan Dempsey
Permissions editor: Ann Checchia
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the
many people who have assisted us in the complex
and challenging task of producing this book.
At Oxford University Press Canada we have been
impressed with the depth of advice and support we
have received. We wish to thank MaryLynne
Meschino (Director, Education Division), Patti
Henderson (Acquisitions Editor) for initially giving
us the vote of confidence to go ahead with this
project. Vince Morgan (Production Manager) and
Brett Miller (Design Manager) turned our manu-
script dreams into finished reality.
We wish to thank Developmental Editors
Margaret Hoogeveen and Tracey MacDonald for
their constant prodding to make additional
improvements to the manuscript, and the positive
suggestions they made for doing it. Maria
DeCambra (Photo Researcher) and Susan McNish
(Copy Editor) added their own vital contributions
behind the scenes. To the many others we have not
named, we thank you sincerely.
Our spouses have greatly assisted us, as they
always do. Your love, advice, and support have
eased our task. Thank you to Vi Bain, Scott
Grondin, Shirley DesRivieres and Sharon
Goodland. Baby Sam Grondin-Colyer is especially
mentioned for his co-operation in allowing his
mummy time to work on the project!
Colin Bain
Jill Colyer
Dennis DesRivieres
Sean Dolan
Cover Art: Élaine Boily, Atlas or Projection I, 2000
Mixed media on canvas, 91 x 122 cm
Collection of the artist.
Since this page cannot accommodate all the
copyright notices, page 422 is considered an
extension of this page.
This book is dedicated to the memory of

Herbert Arthur Seifert

(April 1923 to May 1989)
&

Ruth Louise (Nilson) Seifert

(January 1923 to November 1989)
 Table of Contents

Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Social Sciences 2

1.1 What Social Scientists Examine 4
1.2 Anthropology 6
1.3 Psychology 15
1.4 Sociology 22

Unit One: Social Change 36

Chapter 2 Explanations of Social Change 38
2.1 Questions About Social Change 40
2.2 Anthropological Theories About Social Change 48
2.3 Psychological Theories About Social Change 53
2.4 Sociological Theories About Social Change 59

Chapter 3 Forces that Influence Social Change 68

3.1 Conditions for and Impediments to Social Change 70
3.2 Conformity and Alienation 77
3.3 Poverty and Affluence in Canada 82
3.4 Values and Social Change in Canada 90

Chapter 4 Technology and Social Change 102

4.1 Technology: An Agent of Social Change 104
4.2 Coping with Technological Change 108
4.3 The Impact of Technology on the Family 115
4.4 Changes in Land Use and Agriculture 123

Summative Project, Stage One: Conceptualizing Your Project 136

Unit Two: Social Trends 140

Chapter 5 The Baby Boom and Echo 142
5.1 Demographic Groups in Canada 144
5.2 Causes of the Baby Boom 147
5.3 Nurturing the Baby Boom 151
5.4 Baby Boomers Transform Society 156
5.5 The Echo Boom 160
5.6 Impact of the Aging Boomers 169

Chapter 6 Trends Related to Fertility and Fecundity 174

6.1 Setting the Stage: World Population Trends 176
6.2 The Relationship Between Fecundity and Culture 181
6.3 Involuntary and Voluntary Childlessness 189
6.4 Impact of Current Birth Patterns in Canada 200
iv
 Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s v

Chapter 7 Trends Related to the Life Cycle 206

7.1 Adolescence: How We See and Celebrate this Stage of the Life Cycle 208
7.2 Factors that Influence Youth Culture 213
7.3 Parenthood: Changes in this Stage of the Life Cycle 226
7.4 Aging: the Impact on Caregivers, Housing, and Healthcare 231

Summative Project, Stage Two: Processing and Interpreting Your Research 242

Unit Three: Social Challenges 246

Chapter 8 Health and Wellness Challenges 248
8.1 Health Impairing Behaviors 250
8.2 Barriers to Health Care 259
8.3 Ethical Health Care Provision 268
8.4 Changing Social Mores in Canada 275

Chapter 9 Prejudice and Discrimination 284

9.1 Identifying Prejudice and Discrimination 288
9.2 The Psychology of Race 297
9.3 Analyzing Hate Crimes 305
9.4 Paradigm Shift: "Unlearning" Prejudice 313

Chapter 10 Globalization and the Social Sciences 324

10.1 How Anthropologists Interpret Globalization 326
10.2 Sociology, Globalization, and Inequality 336
10.3 Our Perceptions of the Community: Psychology and Globalization 347

Summative Project, Stage Three: Creating a Finished Product 361

Skills Appendix 365

Creating Organizers 365
Taking Research Notes 366
Interpreting Statistics 367
Mind Mapping 369
Using Inclusive Language in Social Science Research 371
Creating a Survey 373
Interpreting and Presenting Survey Results 375
Designing a Field Observation 379
Interpreting and Reporting Field Observation Results 381
Structuring Your Social Science Research Paper 383
Structuring Your Social Science Report 386
Plotting and Interpreting a Population Pyramid 388
Making a Web Page to Present Your Finding 389

Glossary 391
Bibliography 403
Index 414
Credits 422
 F e at u re s

Case Studies
Poverty in Brazil 7
When Bystanders Join In 16
On Changing Behaviour 44
The San of Southern Africa 48
Why Advocacy Research? 75
Investigating the Desire to Conform 78
Nightmare on Frederick Street 95
Investigating Game-Playing Behaviour 113
Satellite Television in Bhutan 116
Information Technology and the Family 119
Agricultural Change in Guayape Valley 128
Practitioners of Social-Demographic Research 166
Are All the Aging Baby Boomers the Same? 171
Is there an obligation on the part of the “Haves” toward those who “Have” much less? 177
Delaying Childbirth May Not Be Such a Good Idea 180
Culture and Fertility in China, Hong Kong, and Israel 187
The “Baby M” Case 196
Declining Birth Rates and the Aging Population 203
Liminality and Becoming a Soldier 211
His Name is Aurora 218
The Values of Youth Today 224
Parenthood – The Most Difficult Transition of the Life Cycle? 227
Demographer David Foot on Health Care for the Future 236
Redefining Aging 238
Curfews 258
Can We Afford Medical Care for Alice C.? 260
An Anthropologist Studies the Ties Between Social Factors and Emotional Well-Being 262
Reading the Stories of Immigrant Iranian Women 263
Yes, let’s pay for organs 271
Healing 281
Aboriginal People Face Systemic Racism In Canadian Workforce 291
Do Aboriginal People In Canada Face Genocide? 294
Official Statement on “Race”: American Anthropological Association 298
Genocide in Bosnia and Croatia 208
Listening to the Voices of Students 320
Globalization and the Peasants In Costa Rica 330
The New Trade in Human Body Parts (HBP) 340
Problems with Eyewitness Testimony 351
Canada – U.S. Relationship is Defining National Issue 355

Focusing on the Issues

Children Learn What They Live 3
Ten Commandments for Changing the World 39
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 Features vii

Social Change very slow in Qatar, a small Islamic country 69

Paying the Price of Progress 103
Today’s youth do more than echo the past 143
I happily choose to be childless 175
Rave: Dancing the Night Away 207
Why Canada’s nurses are so angry 249
Guilty plea entered in cross burning 287
Where Is My Society? 325

Groundbreakers
Sherry Ortner (b. 1941) 51
Carl Jung (1875-1961) 55
Thelma McCormack 63
Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) 107
Erik Erikson (1902-1994) 214
Gordon W. Allport (1897-1967) 299
Elliot Aronson (b. 1932) 314

Skill Builders
Developing a Hypothesis 65
Developing Research Questions 98
Developing Research Strategies 121
Recognizing Bias in Sources of Information 158
Using Sources Ethically 185
Developing a Thesis 216
Maintaining Intellectual Objectivity 282
Using Visuals to Show Information 316
Validating Your Conclusions 356

Competing Perspectives
Responding to September 11 32
Competing Perspectives on Boot Camp 56
Massive welfare cuts invite more drug problems 88
Do the Benefits of GM Technology Outweigh the Risks? 132
Is Generation Y out of control? 164
Countries Differ on Rules Governing Reproductive Technologies 194
Does Television Influence Teen Sexuality? 222
Why Do Girls Smoke? 256
Does the Heritage Front organization promote hatred in Canada? 310
On the World Bank 344
 F o re w o rd

Does human society and social change interest you? Good! The author/editor team of Transitions in
Society would like to welcome you to the study of social science.
As you make your way through this course, you will learn about human behaviour and how and
why it changes in both individuals and society at large. You will learn the fundamentals of the social
sciences, wrestle with the issues raging in social science circles, and learn the skills and methods sci-
entists use to study social change. You will be introduced to social scientists who explain their research
techniques. You will encounter examples of academic writing that demonstrate what you can expect
should you choose to pursue an education in the social sciences. You will conduct your own social sci-
ence project, using the skills and methods used by scientists in the field.
A new course is always a challenge. By using the tools in this resource, you will succeed.

Features in Transitions in Society

As you flip through the book, you will notice a variety of features. Every chapter, for example, opens
with a feature called Focusing on the Issues. The study of human behaviour almost always involves
issues, some of which are not easy to solve. The subject of the Focusing on the Issues feature allows
you to get a taste of what’s to come. You’ll also find the following features in just about every chapter.
• Case Studies are the authors’ opportunity to give you detailed information about a topic that they
believe you’ll find interesting.
• In the Competing Perspectives features, you’ll find articles with two opposing opinions about a
contentious topic. Questions are provided to help you make up your own mind.
• Groundbreaker features tell you about the individuals whose foundational ideas and forward-
looking research carved new avenues into the study of human society and social change.
• Watching movies can be more than just Friday-night entertainment. Our Film Society feature
will help you choose classic films that throw light on your study of human behaviour.
• Check out the Internet Resources features to identify Web sites of particular use in social science
research.
• While taking this course, you’re going to learn skills used by social scientists, including everything
from developing a hypothesis to structuring your research report according to American
Psychological Association guidelines in the Skill Builder features. You’ll find these in both the
chapters and the skills appendix.
If you’re particularly interested in one of the social sciences featured in the book, watch for the
icons used to indicate the focus of major subsections. The icons are as follows:

Anthropology Sociology
Psychology

Don’t forget the index at the back of the book to help you find information quickly. The glossary
provides definitions for any difficult social science terms. You’ll discover, however, that difficult and
important words are highlighted in bold and defined right on the chapter pages. When researching a
viii
 Foreword ix

particular topic, you might want to check out the chapter-by-chapter bibliography at the back of the
book. This section lists the sources the authors used to conduct their research.

Summative Project
You may be asked to complete a three-stage Summative Project over the course of the term or year.
This book is structured to allow you to complete one or more or the following project types: Research
Essay, Survey, or a Field Observation.
Whichever project type you choose, it will be broken down into three major stages (explained at
the end of each unit). Each of the three major units in this book contains Skill Builder features that
will help you develop the particular skills you will need to complete your Summative Project. The Skill
Builder features and the particular chapters they appear in are listed below.

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3

Conceptualizing Your Summative Project Processing and Interpreting Your Research Creating a Finished Product
Chapter 2 Chapter 5 Chapter 8
Developing a Hypothesis 65 Recognizing Bias in Sources of Maintaining Intellectual
Chapter 3 Information 158 Objectivity 282
Developing Research Questions 98 Chapter 6 Chapter 9
Chapter 4 Using Sources Ethically 185 Using Visuals to Show
Developing Research Strategies 121 Chapter 7 Information 316
Developing a Thesis 216 Chapter 10
Validating Your Conclusions 356

At each stage, you will also be asked to provide a submission that relates to your specific project
type, as outlined below.

Materials for Submission, by Project Type

For Research Paper For Survey For Field Observation

Stage 1: Conceptualizing Your
Project
Stage 2: Processing and
Interpreting Your Research
Stage 3: Creating a Finished
Product
• proposal for research paper
• research notes
• rough outline of paper
• completed research paper
with sources
• proposal for survey • proposal for field research
project
• research notes • research notes
• list of survey questions • raw data collected for field
research
• completed survey
• completed survey report • completed field observation
report

By applying the techniques demonstrated in the Skill Builder features to your own work on the
Summative Project, you should be able to develop your researching and reporting skills.